Headhunters are normally more aggressive than in-house recruiters. They may use superior sales methods, such as initially pretense as clients to collect employee contacts, as well as going to candidate offices. They may also buy expensive lists of names and job titles, however more often will make their own lists. They may make a candidate ready for the interview, help negotiate the wages, and conduct closure to the hunt. They are commonly members in good standing of industry trade groups and associations. Headhunters will frequently attend trade shows and other meetings nationwide or even internationally that may be attended by probable candidates and hiring managers.

The return for the agency’s services traditionally takes one of two forms:

• A contingency fee paid by the organization when a recommended candidate gets a job with the client company (normally 20%-30% of the candidate’s starting salary), which typically has some form of guarantee, should the candidate not manage to perform and is completed within a set period of time.
• An advance payment that acts as a retainer, also paid by the organization.
• It may still be lawful for an employment agency to charge the candidate rather than the company, but in most places that experience is now illegal, due to past dishonest and deceptive practices.